Former North Melbourne player Nick Dal Santo admits he is a “bit concerned” about the current direction of the football club.
Since delisting 11 players last month, the club recently parted ways with several high-profile assistants depart including the likes of Jade Rawlings and Heath Scotland.
They’ve also publicly expressed their desire to trade star forward Ben Brown, while the likes of contracted pair Jared Polec and Shaun Higgins are both reportatly expected to leave the club as well.
On the back of a three-win season which has seen the Roos opt to begin an aggressive rebuild, Dal Santo revealed that some of his former teammates are now unhappy at the club and said he was “struggling to relate” to the scale of change that has occurred in recent years.
“I’ve been asked a lot about this,” he said on SEN’s Crunch Time.
“The first thing I will say is, the stories of what we’re hearing and what is actually happening (at the club) is so different to when I was there three or four years ago, I’m struggling to relate to it.
“At football clubs, when you’re winning life is good and when I was there, we (played finals in all three years) so winning papers over a lot of issues that may have been there.
“Yeah I am a bit concerned. I’ve got some friends who are still playing football and are not enjoying their time and are looking elsewhere but more than that, six coaches have gone as a result of the changing landscape.
“I’m concerned on a greater scale than what that footy club was for me for a few years.”
Liam Pickering, who is the manager of the recently departed Jade Rawlings, said he was “staggered” to see the senior assistant part ways with the club and questioned their current direction.
“I don’t know what message they’re selling their players and supporters,” he said.
“They go and get Jade Rawlings and give him a three-year deal as a senior assistant and now he’s gone, all the blokes that Rhyce Shaw has brought in are now gone so there must be some cunning plan that I’m not across.
“It sounds to me like the board (are pulling the strings), I don’t know officially but I was staggered by the Jade Rawlings (sacking).
“I mange Jade and he’s a good mate of mine but the reality is that he’s a very good and well-credentialed coach.”